Searching for Utopia: The History of an Idea - Hardcover

Gregory Claeys

3.45

105 ratings by Goodreads

9780500251744: Searching for Utopia: The History of an Idea

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500251746 ISBN 13: 9780500251744

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2011

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An illustrated history of a perennially powerful idea: the quest for the ideal society

Aspirations for a better – even a perfect – society have existed throughout history, often imagined in intricate detail by philosophers, poets, social reformers, architects and artists. This book is an illustrated history of a perennially powerful idea: the quest for the ideal society.

Gregory Claeys, a leading scholar in the field, surveys the influence of the idea of Utopia on history. Central to his exploration of ideal worlds are creation myths; archetypes of heaven and the afterlife; new worlds and voyages of discovery; ages of revolution and technological progress; model communities and kibbutzim; political and ecological dystopias; space travel and science fiction. The most significant utopias throughout history – whether envisaged or attempted – are covered, including visions of the ideal society in the West as well as American, Asian, African and the Arab worlds.

Complete with a wealth of photographs, paintings, engravings, maps, documents, posters and film stills, as well as comprehensive notes and a bibliography, this volume is a compelling and insightful exploration of the rich diversity of the utopian imagination. From classical times to the present day, it traces the enduring human need to imagine and construct ideal worlds.

Table of Contents

The Search for Utopia � The Classical Age � Christian Archetypes � Extra-European Visions of the Ideal Society � Thomas More’s Utopia � Voyages of Discovery to the New World and Beyond � The Age of Defoe and Swift � Revolution and Enlightenment � Ideal Cities: Medieval to Modern � Utopia as Community: From Shakers to Hippies � Socialism, Communism and Anarchism � Rationalism, Technology and Modernity as Utopia � The Emergence of Science Fiction � Varieties of Dystopia: Totalitarianism and After � Utopia, Science Fiction and Film: The Final Frontier � Conclusion: Paradise Lost?

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Review:

'Lavishly produced ... wide-ranging' --The Daily Mail

'Informative'
--The Daily Telegraph

'Unquestionably the best-illustrated book ever published on the history of utopianism.' --History Today

'A magnificent picture book, gorgeously illustrating the madly protean nature of the hope and despair of humankind as it takes the measure of the gap between how things are and how they ought to be.' --Times Higher Education

'(A) beautifully illustrated account of an endlessly fascinating subject.'
--The Tablet

`Excellent...without wishing to detract from Claeys's magisterial narrative, this book is worth purchasing for its wonderful illustrations alone'
--BBC History Magazine

'An exciting and imaginative journey charting the rich diversity of the utopian imagination from antiquity to the present day'
--Good Book Guide

'A compelling exploration of the rich diversity of the utopian imagination.'
--The Historical Association

About the Author:

Gregory Claeys is Professor of the History of Political Thought at Royal Holloway, University of London. His many books include Utopia and Thomas Paine.

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